


resilient

by starkly



Series: you don't have to do this alone [28]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 19:18:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13530864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: They found their peace in the town of Resilient, a place where people, when they saw the nightmares of the war begin to overtake them, eventually ended up after leaving everything behind and going west.





	resilient

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for NaNoWriMo 2017 and posted at [dailyironfamily](http://dailyironfamily.tumblr.com/post/168000738150/day-28-western-au) on tumblr. This fic was proofread before being posted here but is otherwise unchanged.
> 
> Day twenty-eight: western AU. This is not an 1872 verse fic, though it’s set in the same time frame and Tony has the same backstory, because it’s the obvious one. Established Tony/Rhodey with future Pepper/Tony/Rhodey.

Pepper sighs and wipes her hands on her skirt, stepping back as Sheriff James Rhodes settles Tony’s mostly unconscious body on the bench in the cell in the Sheriff’s office.

“I hate to impose, Jim,” she says, “but this is the third time this week.”

James carefully sets Tony’s head down against the bench, brushing his hair from his forehead. “It’s not a problem, Miss Potts. Was he causing any trouble?”

“No, it’s not that. I just wanted him to sleep it off somewhere someone can keep an eye on him.”

James steps out of the cell, leaving the door open. “Well, thank you for bringing him over, then. I know you must be busy.”

Pepper shakes her head. “Maria’s keeping an eye on the bar, it’s no trouble. I just worry.”

Looking back at Tony on the bench, dead drunk at 4pm, James sighs. “Don’t we all. Did he say what was bothering him?”

“Not this time, but I’d wager a guess it’s the usual,” she answers, frowning. The both fall silent a moment, watching Tony. He looks almost peaceful, asleep like this, but she supposes that’s what he’s hoping for when he gets drunk like this.

“I’ll talk to him when he wakes,” James says, quiet. She nods, then bids him a good day and heads back to the saloon. It’s unfortunate Tony handles his problems so poorly, but they’ve all got things they struggle with. It’s why they’re here.

* * *

Anthony Stark made weapons for the war, better, faster, weapons, and when he saw the destruction they wrought he left everything behind and went west.

James Rhodes fought for the North in the war, and when he saw no change in the treatment of people like him, he left everything behind and went west.

Virginia Potts had a husband and a son who went off to war, and when she saw them returned to her in caskets, she left everything behind and went west.

They found their peace in the town of Resilient, a place where people, when they saw the nightmares of the war begin to overtake them, eventually ended up after leaving everything behind and going west.

* * *

Tony enters the saloon the next day looking a little ruffled but otherwise sober. Pepper watches him carefully, setting down the glass she’s drying off and waiting with her hands on her hips as he approaches the bar.

“I’m not undoing all the hard work Jim put into drying you out,” she says before he can speak, squinting at him.

“Wasn’t here for that,” Tony tells her, hat in hand and looking contrite. “I wanted to say thanks, for getting me over to Rhodey.”

Her expression softens in surprise. “Oh. Well then, you’re welcome.”

“And if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” he adds. “Please.”

“Ah, well, I suppose if you could check the stove in the back―?”

He shakes his head, interrupting. “Not just that. I mean, I’ll gladly check your stove for you, but if I can help in any way, with anything at all.”

“That’s a mighty big offer, Mr. Stark,” she says, raising an eyebrow.

“Please, call me Tony,” he says, smiling wide, and Pepper can recognize that old East Coast charm he was likely known for back home. “Now, what’s wrong with this stove of yours?”

* * *

The ‘secret’ dalliance between Sheriff Rhodes and town drunk-slash-blacksmith Stark was a very poorly kept secret. Most everyone knew about it, and most everyone didn’t care. Resilient was a town out of the norm and its residents were willing to defend that, even if it meant that Pepper had to step in and sort out some strangers every now and then.

The man is drunk and just “passing through,” he says, and then he says a few things about Mr. Cage and his wife, who have just left, that have Tony leaping from his stool to tell him off. The stranger turns his commentary to Tony instead, then James, when he stands to defend Tony, and by then Pepper has returned from the back room and slams her hand on the bar, a shotgun under her other arm.

“If you’d  _please_  exit my saloon, I’d greatly appreciate it,” she says coldly, her tone brooking no argument. “And once you’re out, please continue and remove yourself from our town, before I have our sheriff do it for you.”

The man protests, but she hefts the shotgun higher, and he stumbles to his feet, muttering under his breath (nothing flattering, most likely, but she doesn’t care as long as he leaves). She watches him like a hawk until he’s out the door, and only then does she exhale deeply and set down the gun.

“Apologies for that,” she says, terse. “He was polite as anything before now.”

“Not your fault,” James says, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder and guiding him back to his seat. “Thanks for the help.”

Tony’s trembling slightly, and James rubs his hand across his back, trying to calm him. For lack of anything better to offer, Pepper gives him another beer, which he knocks back worryingly quick. He keeps shooting glances at the gun, and Pepper discreetly removes it from the counter top and leans it against the bar by her feet.

“If I see him around still tomorrow, I’ll make sure to tell you, sheriff,” she says.

James laughs faintly. “Doesn’t seem like you need help running anyone out of town, but all right.”

Pepper flushes, but the sound of James’s laughter has Tony sitting up a little straighter, looking less strained, so she doesn’t say anything, just goes back to work.

* * *

She’s closing up the bar one evening when one of the neighbors comes in and says, “Miss Potts, Stark’s drunk on your porch and won’t leave. Just thought you ought to know.”

Pepper sighs and thanks them, finishes up what she’s doing, then goes outside to see the damage.

Stark’s sitting on the steps in front of the door, a bottle between his legs, and he grins drunkenly up at her when she exits the saloon. “Miss Potts! What a surprise. I was waiting for you.”

“It’s not a surprise if you’re waiting for me,” she says, bending down to help him onto his feet. He grabs the bottle and stands, slightly shaky. “Come on, let’s get you back to Sheriff Rhodes, hm?”

“I came here for you,” he protests, but he moves when Pepper urges him down the couple of stairs and down the street. He leans on her as they walk, making Pepper go slower than usual, but at least he’s conscious and supporting most of his own weight.

“It’s late,” she says, pointedly. “You shouldn’t be out on the street like this. What if you got hurt?”

“So what?” He shrugs awkwardly with his arm around her waist.

“Jim would be upset.”

“Would you?”

“Of course.”

Tony’s silent for a moment. “You’re very pretty.”

Used to this kind of behavior from drunk patrons, Pepper just says, “Thank you, Tony.”

He starts humming some old Irish tune, one she recognizes her father used to sing, and they walk the rest of the way without saying anything else. Pepper knocks on the door to the Sheriff’s office, hoping that James is still awake at this hour.

Thankfully, the door opens a moment later, and James just steps back to let them in once he sees Tony slumped against her shoulder, humming. Pepper helps Tony into the building, saying to James,

“He was outside the saloon, I didn’t want him to fall asleep out there.”

“Thank you, Miss Potts,” James says softly, taking Tony’s weight from her. He takes the bottle from Tony’s hand, passing it to her, and she sets it down on the desk to deal with later. “Wait here a moment?”

She nods, and waits in the office while James brings Tony into the back room, presumably to put him to bed so he’s not out causing any mischief. When he returns, he shuts the door quietly behind him.

“I just wanted to say,” he starts, drying his hands on a rag before setting it down on his desk by the bottle of alcohol, “I appreciate all your help, but you really don’t have to keep bringing him back. It’s not your problem.”

“He’s one of ours,” Pepper says, nodding to the closed door. “You’re all my problem.”

“At this rate I ought to being deputizing you,” James says with a smile.

“Sheriff Potts has a nice ring to it,” Pepper says, smiling back, and it gets a laugh out of him.

“I wouldn’t go that far. Not yet, anyway.”

Pepper watches him, takes in his kind eyes and the way they crinkle around the edges when he smiles. It’s easy to see what Tony sees in James Rhodes.

“Have a good evening, Sheriff,” she says, giving him a slight curtsy, and smiles when it draws another laugh out of him.

* * *

The next evening, Tony’s waiting for her outside the saloon, but he’s not drunk. At least not that she can tell. He invites her back to his place for dinner, and she’s wary but curious, so she leaves Maria in charge of the bar for the rest of the night and follows him home.

His house is an oddly quaint affair next to an enormous forge where he does all his work. She’s been inside the latter but not the former, and she looks around eagerly as he welcomes her inside.

“I must confess, I didn’t think you could cook,” she says as he takes her evening shawl from her and hangs it up.

“If you’re confessing, I should too―I had some help,” Tony says, and that’s when James steps into the hallway to greet them.

“Are we having a party?” Pepper says dryly, glancing between the two men. “I would have dressed up.”

“You look lovely as is,” Tony says instantly, while James rolls his eyes at him and says,

“If you consider three people a party. Dinner’s ready, by the way.”

She follows them to the kitchen and the table set for three, and she sits, a little mystified, as Tony and James put the food and drinks on the table before joining her. James says grace, and Tony even chimes in with the “Amen” at the end. Pepper wonders for a moment if she somehow got into her own stock without realizing it and is now unconscious and dreaming on the saloon floor right now.

“The food is excellent,” she tells them after a few minutes of eating in relative silence, “but I have to ask. What’s the occasion?”

“We wanted to thank you for watching out for me all the time,” Tony says, setting down his fork. “I know I’m not…the easiest to handle.”

“Is that all? I told Jim, it’s not a problem. I’d rather you be an inconvenience than leave you alone to get hurt.”

She meets Tony’s gaze and he holds it, searching for something, though she’s not sure what. Finally, however, he looks down at his plate and nods.

“I told him that, but he still wanted to make you dinner,” James says, smiling.

“Well, thank you. I mean it.”

The rest of dinner passes without anything remarkable happening. Pepper enjoys their company, and they end up talking way past the end of the meal. It’s not until she notices the time that she realizes she’s probably overstayed her welcome and she gets up to leave.

“I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time,” she says, frowning, but James and Tony both brush off her apology.

“I’m glad you came,” Tony says, leaving the plates on the table as he stands, and the two men walk her to the door.

James nods. “You’re wonderful company, Miss Potts.”

“I think at this point you can call me Pepper,” she says, giving him a fond smile.

“Your shawl,” Tony says, taking it from its hanging place, and when she turns around to take it, she nearly runs into him, the two of them much closer than expected. She startles, surprised, but Tony doesn’t move, and they stand there face to face, watching. Tony’s eyes are a warm shade of brown, and when he licks his lips her gaze is instantly drawn downward.

“Pardon me,” she says, the still active part of her brain telling her to move, but her body doesn’t seem to be cooperating. In fact, when Tony starts to lean in, she leans in slowly too, eyes fluttering shut, until her lips brush against his. They stay like that for a few seconds, savoring the press of his mouth against hers, before she remembers where she is and who she’s kissing―and in front of whom.

She jerks back, turning around to apologize, “I’m so sorry, Jim, I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“The same thing that came over me the first time Tony kissed me, I’d wager,” James says with a laugh, and she can’t comprehend why he’s not furious at her. “May I?”

He’s holding a hand out to her, and she stares at it, still uncomprehending, until― _oh_. Oh.

She takes his hand, and he draws her closer for a kiss of his own, just as chaste and soft as Tony’s. She’s staring at him when he breaks the kiss, and doesn’t move even when Tony gently tucks her shawl around her shoulders.

“We hope you’ll come over for dinner another time, Miss Potts,” James says, his smile so charming, like he hasn’t just shocked the life out of her, and all she can weakly say is,

“Pepper. Please.”

“Another time, then, Pepper,” James corrects himself, and gets the front door for her.

She looks back at Tony, but he’s still smirking, and he waves when he sees her looking at him.

“Don’t think this means you can pass out in front of my door now,” she says to him, finding her voice.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Tony replies, grinning wider, and she blushes and steps out into the cool night air before either of them notice.

Lord almighty, what has she gotten herself into this time? And why doesn’t she feel worried about it in the slightest?


End file.
